Dental articulators are well-known tools used by dental practitioners and technicians with dental models, in general for producing, developing or testing dental prostheses or dentures. Articulators are generally meant to provide a relative spatial relationship between the upper and lower jaws, often providing the user with valuable occlusal information, and are hinged to enable the upper and lower dental models to rotate with respect to one another, in a manner that may be analogous to that of a real jaw.
Simple dental articulators allow relative movement between the upper and lower dental models with one degree of freedom only, about the hinge axis, and often the dental models, which are typically made from plaster, are connected to the articulator in a manner that may cause damage to the models when removed therefrom. Extremely complex articulators are also known, which can imitate the occlusal and masticatory movement of a particular patient, but operation of such articulators is complex and may require specialist training.
There are also a range of articulators which provide relative movement between the upper and lower models, in degrees of freedom additional to rotation about the pivot axis of the articulator. Typically, the prior art articulators attempt to locate the pivoting axis at a position corresponding to the condyle.
US 2006/188838 discloses a dental articulator for connecting first and second dental models, and generally includes upper and lower arms hinging at their rear ends by a hinge. Each arm front end is connected by a coupling to a dental model. Each coupling generally includes a ball, a coupling, a rear socket and a fastener joining the coupling and rear socket such that the socket is movable rotationally, up and down, and side to side on the ball to a selected position. The hinge also provides for movements of the arms mimicking those of a human jaw. The lower arm means for adjusting the height of the hinge. Upper and lower dental models each include a holder of an incisor spacing assembly co-cast into the base. The holders hold an incisor pin for adjusting the vertical spacing between the fronts of the dental models.
US 2006/204921 discloses a dental articulator capable of finely adjusting a three-dimensional articulation posture and exerting a secure fastening force by means of a lever is provided. The dental articulator includes: a lower grip plate on which a lower mouth mold is mounted; a column disposed at one end of the lower grip plate; an arm having one end rotatably disposed at upper end of the column; and an upper grip plate disposed at the other end of the arm, wherein a first ball having a shape of sphere is disposed at the other end of the arm, and a second ball having a shape of sphere is disposed at a neck portion erected at a center of the upper grip plate, and wherein the dental articulator further comprises: a first clamp block having spherical recesses spherically contacting with the first and second balls, wherein a screw hole is provided at a central portion of the first clamp block; a second clamp block having spherical recesses spherically contacting with the first and second balls, wherein an engaging bolt hole is provided at a central portion of the second clamp block; a lever disposed on an outer surface of the second clamp block, wherein screw holes are provided to both ends of the lever, wherein an engaging bolt hole is provided to a central portion of the lever; an engaging bolt passing through the engaging bolt hole of the lever and the engaging bolt hole of the second clamp block to be engaged into the screw hole of the first clamp block; and fastening bolts engaged into the screw holes of the lever to shorten a distance between the first and second clamp blocks based on the engagement position.
US 2005/282105 discloses a dental articulator for connecting upper and lower dental models made from dental impressions of teeth and for moving the mandible in opening and closing, protrusive and lateral motions generally comprises upper and lower arms each having a front end for attachment respectively to upper or lower model. The upper arm includes a pair of condylar slots for receiving journals of the lower arm such that the lower arm may perform the opening and closing motion, the protrusive movement, and lateral movement of the mandible. A cantilever spring attached to the upper arm biases the journals toward the centric occlusion position. Slot stops limit protrusive movement and axle stops limit lateral movement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,470 discloses an articulator for simulating jaw movements comprising an upper and a lower part for carrying an upper-jaw and/or lower-jaw model and connected by joints permitting one or more swiveling and linear motions, in which in the joint the lower part is guided relative to the upper part in one or more directions comprising components of motion in the cranial and/or dorsal direction and corresponding to surtrusion and/or retrusion.